The miller assesses each bag carefully. He picks a handful of groundnut gauging the moisture, colour and cleanliness and makes a note on his smartphone. He moves to the next lot and repeats the process.

R Purushothaman operates a traditional wooden oil press at Bagayam near Vellore, about 130 km west of Chennai. He is at the Vellore regulated market to pick up stocks for his mill. After appraising the quality, he makes a bid via an app on his mobile phone.

There are other traders going through the same routine. Some take notes on pieces of paper they submit to the market authorities. It is about 9-30 a.m. The day started a couple of hours earlier at the market with farmers coming in with their produce — paddy, oilseeds, millets — loaded on one-tonne vehicles and small trucks. Lot numbers are allocated, details of the farmers noted down and then the wait starts for traders.

All operations are computerised. Bids are made over a dedicated app by buyers; manual bids are fed into computers by staff at the market. High bids are picked by the computer, projected over an electronic screen, read out over loudspeakers and chalked up on a black-board. Farmers and buyers can check any of the prices of stocks. The money is sent online to farmers’ bank accounts. For transactions of less than ₹10,000, cash is paid later in the evening. At the Vellore Regulated Market, computers and paper files; electronic screens and black-boards; mobile apps and paper labels; and online money transfer or cash payments all operate in parallel.

S Sankarasubramanian, Secretary, Vellore Market Committee, explains that the operations are fully computerised and the market is set for electronic trading as part of the National Agriculture Market. Once assaying and grading facilities for crop quality are set up, traders need not even come to the market but can bid online. This will open up a wider choice and better pricing opportunity for farmers, he says.

At neighbouring market in Ammoor, one of the 12 markets under the Vellore Market Committee, a couple of weeks back paddy sale happened 100 per cent on-line. But that was not achieved easily. The biggest challenge is convincing farmers and traders to go online for not just bidding but also for fund transfer. It’s a mixed bag among farmers coming to sell their produce in the Vellore market. G Elangovan, of Kangeyanallur in Vellore district says he has opted for RTGS payments directly into his bank account.

M Pitchandi, a paddy farmer from Kandaneri-Kannikapuram, Vellore, says he is happy that he no longer has to wait the entire day at the market for payment. The money is transferred to his bank account and he can go on with the day’s work at the farm.

However, a couple of small farmers are reluctant to opt for bank payments online. “Bank payments happen a day late, I would rather wait and take the cash on hand. I pay everybody in cash,” said a groundnut farmer who did not want to be named. “I do not have account,” said another.

But it is clear it is only a matter of time the change overtakes all.

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